Demo versions with Neil's vocals of this pretty, somber
ballad from the Pet Shop Boys' stage musical Closer
to Heaven have been circulating unofficially for years, and on occasion
one or more of those demos have been made officially available for listening purposes
on the official PSB website.
(The 2017 reissue of the album Nightlife finally grants CD-release to one of them, included among its bonus tracks.) The demos feature him singing in his highest non-falsetto register, pushing his
natural vocal range to the edge, lending the track a distinct air of emotional
frailty.

Neil has stated that the lyrics went through three different versions.
Earlier lyrics reflected in the Boys' demos seem much more personal, with Neil
emphasizing the fact that, just because someone is rich and famous doesn't mean
that they must lead a "charmed life with no pain or strife."
Rather, they face the same personal trials and tribulations as the rest of us;
in fact, those difficulties may even be compounded by their status as public figures.
Given their apparently (and intensely) personal nature, it's not surprising that
Neil should repeatedly rewrite the lyrics: first from one demo to the next, and
then finally, even more drastically, to fit the context of the musical.

Those
earlier pre-Closer lyrics are in some ways so emotionally raw that you
can't help but feel the great sense of pain that Neil (or at least his lyrical
persona, since it's always questionable to read what a writer writes as being
necessarily autobiographical) expresses in describing his great sorrow and regret
regarding the fragility of love. But all known versions of the lyrics share that
common thread of bemoaning the accompanying sense of loss, most likelyand,
in the case of the musical, certainlyin the wake of death. By extension,
they express grief for the decline of love in society overall. The narrator seems
resigned and more than a little bitter. But in expressing his feelings, he implicitly
conveys his hopes not only for himself but for the world in general, thereby transcending
mere solipsism in the face of terrible disappointment.